Slide negotiations

There are different uses for a PowerPoint deck. One is to serve visuals for a live presentation. Another is a replacement for a word processor. I currently use it as a user interface design tool for a web app (the irony: PowerPoint is designing its own successor...).

In big corporations, a PowerPoint file is often the working document that different stakeholders use to negotiate on strategy, budgets, or planning. Through a series of meetings, a document iterates towards a solution that is acceptable to all parties involved. The slides do not have to be attention-grabbing, emotion-triggering, memorable calls to action.

Instead, often the most important part of a slide is the detailed footnote that summarises the compromise that has been reached after 3 weeks and 6 meetings. Others: the order in which the boxes are placed on the slide, the relative position of the boxes, dotted lines versus straight lines, preliminary versus final decisions, etc.

Use PowerPoint for whatever you want to use it, do not mix things up though. Budgeting presentations should only be used in budgeting meetings.

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